Time For Trouble
by Aurora Lenore
Summary: Follow-up to Larry and Balki's Egg-cellent Adventure. Bianca nervously faces the prospect of her first date in some time. That same time may work for or against her when the suitor, Max, has ulterior motives, setting off a string of incidents which not only bring her back into the lives of Balki and Larry but some other strange characters as well! Reviews are welcome!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Bianca Pierson stood in front of her full-length mirror inside her bedroom and hiccupped. She was shaking from head to toe and knew she was being silly.

"Just breathe, Bianca; nice and slow…oh, why did I never invest in an inhaler?" she muttered, wringing her hands.

"You will be fine, Miss Bianca," R.O.B., her robotic creation calmed in his tinny voice.

"You'd think I'd never had a date before," she whispered, brushing her shoulder-blade length copper hair swiftly. Truth be told, it had been at least three years since Bianca had been on a date. For as long as she could remember, Bianca preferred to spend her nights at home, working on her inventions, whether it be her robots or her greatest creation: a time machine. From the outside, it looked nothing more than a Plexiglas egg, but inside, it was a mish-mash of technology and computers that actually made it able to travel through time! Just a little over eight months ago, it had managed to teleport two men from nineteen-eighty-six to her present time. She smiled as she remembered Larry Appleton and his Myposian cousin Balki Bartokomous. The duo turned her world upside-down, but in a good way. After they left to go back to their time, she realized how much she had missed human interaction. With a little robotic nudging from R.O.B., she managed to use a dating site to meet and interact with the opposite sex. Four months went by without even a nibble, but now, things were different. Tonight, she had a date with a very attractive man named Max Fagen. Max was funny, intuitive and extremely sexy. His jet black hair and playful green eyes made her melt every time they would video chat. But now meeting him in person was a whole other ballgame. Just thinking about how many ways she could strike out made her feel nauseated.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and she knew it was now or never. "Just stay calm; don't panic and focus; oh my God I forgot how to focus!" she muttered under her breath as she smoothed out her black minidress and opened the door. "Hi," she sang as she saw him, hoping he couldn't see the bead of perspiration that formed on her forehead.

"Hello. Nice to finally meet you in person," Max replied smoothly, taking her hand. "I guess you already know I'm Max."

"Yeah and I'm….Bianca," she stammered. "C-come in."

Max wandered in and whistled "Nice place you have here. Your web design business must be booming."

"Uh, yeah, it is. Thanks. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Water is fine," he told her, bending his knees as he prepared to take a seat on her red and gold sofa. "Uh, Bianca?" he asked, mid-squat. "What is that little yellow thing in the corner by the television?"

Bianca giggled. "Oh, that! That's a, uh, Wakamaru robot. I got him from a Japanese furniture store a couple of months ago. I don't use him much because I can't get him to permanently speak English."

Max sat on the sofa and watched as she disappeared into the kitchen. "Nice. And what exactly is that little charging station over there?" he asked, looking to the other corner of the room. "Is that for Wakamaru?"

Bianca poured the water, her hands shaking so bad, she sloshed some on the counter. "No, that's for my…other…robot, R.O.B.. I have a set. Not a matching set, but a set. I built R.O.B. myself."

Max stood up abruptly. "So you're like a mechanical/robotic genius! Mind if we skip the water and you show me the rest of your house, starting with the kitchen? How many of your appliances are robotic?"

Bianca blushed, both embarrassed and pleased at the attention. "Um, actually, only the microwave, oven and can opener are highly advanced," she told him slowly.

As she and Max entered the kitchen, she spotted her iPad lying on the counter. She could have sworn she left it in her bedroom, but apparently not. She picked it up as Max observed every nook and cranny of her kitchen. "Maybe we should go–"

"I bet I know where that door leads to!" Max interrupted, pointing to the door leading into her garage. "I bet that's the mother lode! I'm sure that's where you keep all the big stuff stashed like extra robot arms, legs and torsos!"

Bianca let out a small gasp. She couldn't let him go inside her garage! That was where her time machine was! "You know what? I think we'd better just go to dinner. It's really a mess in the garage and it's so dusty and dark in there."

"Aw, come on! Humor me!" Max pressed, placing his hand on the doorknob.

Quickly, Bianca punched in the emergency password for the time machine–something she'd only had to use once or twice–on her iPad and swallowed hard. "Okay, see for yourself."

As soon as the door was open, Bianca almost let out a cry of relief as her precious egg was no longer there. She wasn't sure where it had vanished to, but she knew it was probably somewhere else inside the house. As soon as he was thoroughly unimpressed, she'd press a few more buttons and return the machine to its rightful place. "See? Nothing fancy. Just my car, boxes of old antiques and junk and tools. Nothing even remotely interesting."

Max turned to her and smiled thinly. "So you keep all the good stuff inside. Okay, now that you've indulged me, let's go have dinner," he told her, holding out his arm.

Bianca linked her arm in his and left her iPad on the counter where it was before, her time machine nerves being replaced by first date nerves.

* * *

"Balki, could you hand me another cup of coffee?" Larry Appleton asked from his position at the kitchen table where he sat working on an article for the Chicago Chronicle.

He looked up when he saw that his Myposian cousin, Balki Bartokomous was staring at something in his hand, not even acknowledging that Larry had been speaking. "Balki? What are you looking at?"

When Balki still didn't move from his place at the bar, Larry stood up and walked over to him, concern with a hint of annoyance on his face. "Balki, what has got you so interested that you're not even listening to me?"

Suddenly, Balki jerked his head to look at him and smiled softly. "I found the letters that Bianca gave to you and I. She still owes you that coffee and you still owe her a dance."

Larry sighed and led his cousin over to the sofa. He hated to break Balki's heart, but he had to know the truth. "Balki, listen to me. I know you miss Bianca, but the truth is that we will never see her again. I will never get that cup of coffee and you will never get a robot like R.O.B.."

"But Cousin," Balki interjected. "Bianca said she see us again. She made a promise."

"And I'm sure Bianca had every intention of keeping that promise, but she has her own life and it's not here. She belongs in two-thousand-thirteen and we belong in nineteen-eighty-seven. I'm sure she's probably even forgotten about us by now."

Balki turned to Larry, shock on his face. "Cousin, I'm surprised at you! Bianca promised to see us again and I believe her. I took her words at laced valium and you should, too."

Larry sighed. "Balki, I think you mean 'at face value' and it's been well over eight months since we said goodbye. Face it, Balki; we will never see Bianca Pierson again."

Suddenly, as if on cue, a loud buzzing noise could be heard and Bianca's time machine–still shaped just like an over-sized egg–stood before them in the living room.

"Wwoww," Balki breathed, jumping up. "I think the machine must have PBS."

"I don't believe it!" Larry cried out, forgetting about his coffee and the article. "Balki, you were right! Bianca didn't forget us!"

"Well, why are we standing here with our heads wide open? Let's go visit Bianca again!" Balki whooped.

"Wait; last time this happened, the machine saved our lives from carbon-monoxide poisoning," Larry recalled.

"So, I guess that means we should get inside and leave, hoh?" Balki pointed out.

"Let's go," Larry nodded, feeling more excited than he cared to express as they stepped inside and he pressed the button.

Unfortunately for Larry, he also forgot to hang on, for as soon as the machine sprang to life, he slumped to the floor like a rag doll.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Cousin, wakey wakey!" Balki sang as he grabbed Larry underneath his arms and hoisted him up.

"Huh?" Larry mumbled, coming to. "What's goin' on?"

"We are at Bianca's house, Cousin. I cannot wait to see her again!"

"Oh, yeah; now I remember. Balki, you can let go of me now," Larry grunted.

Balki did as he was told and exited the egg first. "Remember last time when we were in this very same garage? Feels a little like cordon bleu."

Larry rubbed the back of his neck and looked around. "If you mean déjà vu, then yes, Balki, it does. At least this time, Bianca isn't standing over us with a baseball bat."

"Speaking of Bianca, where she is?" Balki asked, walking to the garage door that led into the kitchen. Surely she knew he and Cousin Larry were coming!

"Maybe she's inside," Larry suggested. "Bianca, are you in there?" he knocked on the door. When they heard silence, Larry reached for the doorknob and jumped when the door opened effortlessly.

"Bianca, are you and R.O.B. planning a party for us? If so, just let us know and we will be surprised!" Balki called out as he and Larry gingerly walked into the kitchen.

"I don't know about this, Balki; something doesn't feel right. If Bianca sent for us, then why isn't she here now?" Larry whispered.

"Oh, Cousin, don't get your underarm hair in a twist," Balki brushed him off. "I am sure that everything is perfectly A-K.O."

"Balki, you don't think that it's a little strange that no one is here? I don't even hear R.O.B."

Suddenly, R.O.B. whizzed through the kitchen door, his usual blue 'eyes' replaced with red ones. "Intruder alert; intruder alert," it repeated in its robotic voice.

"R.O.B.! It's us! Cousin Larry and Balki!" Balki announced.

Suddenly, the robot's eyes changed back to blue and his red 'lips' smiled. "Good to see you again. I did not know you were coming."

"Frankly, neither did we. Where is Bianca, anyhow?" Larry asked.

"She is on a date with one Max Fagen."

"Oh, there are more than one Max Fagens?" Balki asked.

Larry sighed. "Balki, what he means is she's on a date with a guy named Max Fagen." Suddenly, Larry's eyes grew wide. "Wait a second; if she's on a date, then why are we here? How were we supposed to die this time? Earthquake? Car accident? Murder one?"

"I sensed no danger to your lives nor did I send for you. Bianca did. I am sure she will be back shortly." R.O.B. told them.

Balki turned and saw the little screen on the counter that Bianca had used before to operate the time machine. He remembered his cousin telling him that she used it to bring Balki back from his terrifying encounter with the Ky-Dels on Mypos. While Larry and R.O.B. were not looking, he pressed the button at the bottom part of the device and saw that she had recently activated an emergency button on the machine. "Um, Cousin?"

"Balki, hang on a second. I want to know more from R.O.B. about this Max that Bianca is out with."

"But, Cousin–"

"Balki, I just want to know–"

"Cousin, you should–"

"Balki–"

"But–"

"Balki!" Larry shouted before calming himself. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until we find out if this man is suitable enough for Bianca, alright?"

Balki suddenly grabbed Larry's hair and jerked his upper torso forward until he was leaning over Bianca's screen. "Look," he demanded, his voice an octave lower.

"Okay, Balki, I see it," Larry replied quickly before Balki let go. "It says Bianca activated an emergency transport about twenty minutes ago. That was approximately the time the machine appeared in our apartment. R.O.B., do you think she's in some kind of trouble?"

"She activated the transport when her date wished to see the garage. She did not wish for him to see her machine," R.O.B. concluded, scanning the data on her device.

"Balki, do you know what that means?" Larry cried.

"Well, of course I do; don't be ridiculous…what were we talking about again?"

"She didn't want this guy Max to see her machine because she obviously doesn't trust him! As soon as Bianca gets home, I'm going to sit her down and tell her that this Max guy is just not good enough for her," Larry stated.

Balki glanced at his cousin from the corner of his eye. While Balki may have been at times what his cousin called "wet behind the ears", he knew what jealousy sounded like. And right now, jealousy sounded a lot like Cousin Larry Appleton.

* * *

And here I thought this date would be a disaster, Bianca thought as she rode in the passenger seat of Max's red Fiat. He had been the perfect gentlemen–opening doors for her, pulling back her chair, complimenting her–making it almost seem silly to have gotten so worked up two hours before. Now the first date and the butterflies were over (almost) and he was driving her home.

Suddenly, her foot brushed against something on his floorboard, making a squeaking noise and she jumped. "What was that?" she asked quickly.

Max laughed good-naturedly. "Sorry. I accidentally left one of my cat's toys in the car. Didn't mean to rattle you."

Bianca brushed him off with a casual wave of her hand. "No, it didn't rattle me. I just wasn't expecting it; that's all."

Bianca gulped as he pulled into the driveway of her house. It had been so long since she had been part of the dating game, she wasn't sure what to do. Say goodnight in the car? Let him walk her to the door? Ask him inside for a nightcap and a quick one-player game of Hide the Time Machine? She decided on option number two as soon as Max eliminated the first one by opening her car door.

Slowly, she walked hand-in-hand with him to the front steps, her heart beating fiercely. So much for the disappearing butterflies!

"Well, I hope you had as good of a time tonight as I did," Max told her, looking deep into her blue eyes.

"I had a very good time, thank you," she smiled.

Bianca waited as his face grew closer to hers, his lips slightly parted, eyes closed…

CRASH!

Both she and Max pulled away at the unexpected noise. Now new nerves had taken over: someone–or something–was in her house! "What was that?" she asked slowly.

"Sounded like it was inside. Maybe it was just your robots?" Max guessed.

"No, Wakamaru's battery is dead and R.O.B. should be powered down as well. Max, what are we going to do?"

Max grabbed her arm. "Don't worry. Slowly unlock the door and then get behind me."

Bianca nodded and quietly unlocked her door before scrambling behind her protector. She squealed, however, when she saw him pull a gun from his jacket pocket. "A gun?"

"Just in case we need it," Max whispered before he threw the door open in a flash and expertly pointed the gun, ready to fire.

Suddenly, Bianca heard a familiar voice inside. "Well, it's about time you got home–oh my Lord!"

Bianca pushed past Max and stood there, mouth open at the man standing at the other end of the loaded weapon, eyes wide and hands up. As if on cue, another familiar face walked inside from the kitchen wearing a white apron. "Bianca! So good to see you!" he said, walking towards her to embrace her.

"Stop right there!" Max hollered, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Bianca felt dizzy, but she managed to find her voice. "Larry? Balki? What on Earth on you two doing here?"

"These two friends of yours?" Max asked dryly.

"Yes, they're friends. You can put the gun away," she replied. "Seriously, though; what are you guys doing here?"

"I was just in the kitchen making bang bong binki ninki baklava; a famous Myposian pastry," Balki announced proudly.

"What do you mean what on Earth are we doing here? You invited us, remember?" Larry asked, ignoring Balki.

Now the room really was spinning. Not that she wasn't glad to see them, but how in the world did they manage to travel forward in time when the machine hadn't even been used in almost a week? One thing was for certain: she needed to sit down before her face met the hardwood floor.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Max, can you please excuse us for a minute? I need to talk to these two alone," Larry heard Bianca say, her voice unusually meek and unsteady.

"That's fine. I need to make a quick phone call. I can step outside," Max nodded before exiting the house.

"Bianca, are you feeling alright? No offense, but you look like something the cat threw up," Balki told her, sitting next to her on the sofa.

"Balki!" Larry balked, eyes wide as he sat down on the other side of her. "Bianca, what happened? Did this guy hurt you? Did he threaten you?"

Bianca glared at him. "No, Larry; Max is great! I just can't figure out why you two are here! Maybe R.O.B. sent for you before he had to power down for the night."

"No, R.O.B. said he didn't send the time machine to pick us up; you did!" Larry argued.

"But that's impossible! I haven't even used the machine in a week. I just had it sent to a different room in the house when Max came to pick me up and wanted to look around. I was afraid he would find it, so I hid it. It just transported to a different room; not all the way to your apartment. So if I didn't send it, and R.O.B. didn't send it, then who did?"

"I'm so sorry," Max's voice said suddenly, causing Larry, Bianca and Balki to jump. Larry looked up to find that he was not only back in the living room, but holding a grey and white cat in his arms. "I really should be going."

"Uh, that's okay. I'll, uh, call you. Where did you, uh, get the cat?" Bianca stammered, slowly rising from the couch.

"Oh, the cat? He's mine. Actually, now that I think about it, so are you," Max told her nonchalantly.

"What do you mean 'so are you'? I don't know who you think you are, buster, but the lady is not just some prize," Larry found himself saying. As soon as he realized what he had said, he clamped his mouth shut. Last time he stood up for a woman, he wound up thrown over a bar table with Balki landing on top of him.

"You'd better watch your mouth. I brought you and your little foreign friend here and I can make sure you both are never heard from again!"

Bianca gulped so loudly that Larry heard her. "Max? What on Earth are you talking about?"

"I know about the machine, babe. I know all about your little adventure almost nine months ago, too! Did you really think there wouldn't be any repercussions from your invention? Well, you were wrong!" Max cried, his voice nothing like the Max that Larry had met five minutes ago. This voice sounded ice cold and completely insane!

"Cousin, what do we do?" Balki asked.

"We run!" Larry yelled before grabbing Balki and bolting towards the kitchen.

"Men, grab them!" Max's voice cried and instantly, two men wearing all black appeared out of nowhere and grabbed both Larry and Balki effortlessly.

"Bianca, run!" Larry cried, panicked as he struggled with the man. "No…no!"

The last thing Larry heard before the world went dark was the sound of Bianca's muffled screams as Max headed her off and grabbed her before she could get more than a couple of feet.

* * *

When Balki awoke, he wasn't completely sure if his eyes were open or still shut. Deciding it would be a good time to try the "is it too dark to see the hand in front of my face" trick, he attempted to raise his arm, but it wouldn't move from its position behind his back. "Cousin? Bianca? Are you in the perfect dark, too?" he asked.

"Yes, Balki," Larry replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "Those goons tied our hands and feet together. I think I can feel Bianca, but she's not saying anything."

"Mma meemus mmr meem r mim mi mapf," a muffled voice responded.

"Oh my Lord; Max covered your mouth with tape?" Larry gasped.

"No; she says 'that's because your feet are in my face'," Balki translated, his vision finally adapting to the darkness.

Larry grunted and wiggled his feet until they were no longer touching her. "Sorry."

"Max tied us up and then threw us in the back of a van. I don't know where we're going, either. I can't believe Max knew about my machine this whole time. That's why he was so eager to see my house; he wanted to find it. But how exactly did he manage to operate it and allow both of you to come back?"

Balki was trying to follow, but all this talk about the past and future and time travel was making his head spin. "Cousin?"

"What is it, Balki? Have you figured out a way to get us out of here?" Larry asked.

"Not exactly" he muttered, squirming.

"Balki, what's wrong?' Bianca asked.

"My nose itches and my appendixes won't reach that high."

"Well, Balki, what do you want me to do about it?" Larry asked, annoyed.

"I need you to scratch my nose."

"Balki, I am not in the best position to scratch anything!"

"Cousin, I need you to try–"

"Balki, I am not–"

"Cousin, please scratch my nose!" Balki wailed like a child.

"Oh, alright, alright!" Larry cried, wiggling towards Balki as best he could, grunting the entire way until his fingers were close to Balki's face.

Balki positioned his face underneath Larry's hand's and carefully, Larry's fingers grazed his nose. "Up a little…to the left…ahhhh," he finally exhaled when Larry found the right spot. "Thank you, Cousin."

Suddenly, the van stopped moving and the three of them heard the driver and passenger side doors open and slam shut.

"Oh, this can't be good," Larry muttered just before the back of the van opened, revealing Max and his two minions.

"How was the ride?" Max asked with a smirk.

"Smooth as a baby's bottle," Balki replied, not catching the sarcasm.

"Let us go, you jerk!" Bianca spat, struggling with her ropes.

"Not quite. Guys, get 'em out of there!" Max told the two buffoons.

Balki quickly tried to raise his head up enough to see out of the back of the van, but was quickly met by a black burlap sack that was pulled down over his head. Not again, he thought to himself as darkness surrounded him once more and he was roughly grabbed and carried out of the van. He could hear Larry and Bianca hollering and moving around and he wished he could help.

"What do you want us to do with 'em, boss?" one of the men asked a minute later as Balki heard what sounded like a large metal door become unhinged and opened.

"Tie the foreign one to the chair in the corner there," Max ordered. "And Urpos, you take Curly and follow me and the babe."

"Cousin!" Balki cried out, disliking the thought of being separated from Larry and Bianca.

"No; Balki! Balki!" Larry yelled, his voice becoming farther away until there was another sound of a metallic door. Balki swallowed hard when he realized Larry's voice could no longer be heard at all.

Suddenly, the man who grabbed him earlier forced him into a metal folding chair, tied his waist around it and yanked the sack from his head. Balki looked around to see that they were in some sort of abandoned warehouse. Everything looked so vacant, cold and metallic.

"Comfy?" the man sneered down at him.

"Actually, no. You wouldn't happen to have a chair with a nice cushion lying around, would you?"

The man snickered. "You're funny. Just sit there and shut up while I go to the van for a second. Don't even try to escape; resistance is futile. See? I can be funny, too."

Balki watched as the man left to go outside before he glanced at the door where he assumed Larry and Bianca were. He hoped they were getting better treatment than he was. Surely this was all a big misunderstanding. Bianca liked Max; how could she date someone who would try to hurt her?

"Meow."

Balki looked down at his feet to see a small grey and white cat rubbing his fur against Balki's bound ankles. "Well, I'll be snookered! How did you get in here? You belong to Bianca's date Max, don't you?"

The cat purred in reply and Balki smiled thinly. He hoped that the misunderstanding between Max and Bianca would be over soon so they could go back to Bianca's and he could finish his bang bong binki ninki baklava.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Bianca closed her eyes and forced back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. There was no way she was going to let Max see her distraught. She glanced over at Larry, who sat tied in a brown metallic chair identical to hers, but he was biting his lip nervously. She noticed he kept glancing towards the room where Balki was being held alone. How dare Max keep them apart?

"You really don't think you're going to get away with this, do you?" Bianca asked, her voice low and menacing as she glared at Max, who stood in the left corner, playing with his phone.

Max looked up at her and laughed. "My dear, who is going to be looking for you; your precious robots? Your multi-lingual microwave? I think not. Now sit tight for a little bit while Daddy figures out what to do next."

"You mean, you don't even have a plan?" Larry asked, eyes wide.

Leave it to Larry to wig out when even his kidnappers aren't organized, Bianca thought, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, I have a plan, alright. I just need the supplies to get here first. You see, my dear Bianca, you are going to build another time machine so that I can use I for what I need to do. If you don't, I'm afraid your dear friends will have to be eliminated. They managed to elude death in the past, but this time, they won't be so lucky."

Bianca snorted. "I was barely able to build my time machine. What makes you think I'll be able to build you one?"

"Because if you don't," Max reminded her, using his fingers as an imaginary gun to aim and shoot at Larry, "they die."

"No pressure, right?" Larry asked nervously, glancing from Max to her.

"Now what is taking Urpos and Lylo so long?" Max asked aloud, walking towards the door.

"My guess is they're out looking for new names," Bianca muttered under her breath, still struggling to get out of her ropes, which were now starting to hurt her torso. Of all times to get kidnapped, it had to be when she was wearing a tight dress and heels!

Suddenly, with a loud bang, Bianca jumped as if she'd been shot. The door dividing she and Larry from Balki was wide open and Max had disappeared. The man in the doorway, however, was not who she expected.

"Like Kenny Loggins say, I'm free, baby!" Balki cried, throwing his arms wide.

"Balki!" Larry and Bianca cried in unison.

"How did you get untied?" Larry asked.

Suddenly, Bianca looked down. "The cat! The cat clawed you out of the ropes?"

"You are correct," Balki replied, scooping up the furry creature. "This little kitty helped Balki to get his feet untied and then I tip the chair over and he do the same thing with my hands! All he wanted was a few head scratches and the catnip in my pocket."

Larry smiled. "Way to go, Balki–wait a second–did you say catnip in your pocket?"

"Yes. Don't you always carry catnip in your pocket, Cousin?"

"Guys, as much as I'd love to hear about why catnip is important, can we please get out of here before Max and the minions get back?" Bianca asked.

"Ugh," a voice moaned from somewhere in the room.

"That sounds like one of them now," Larry said, his voice strained as Balki quickly untied him.

"It is, but apparently, Max is out of commission for now. When Balki threw open the door, he must've hit him with it. He's on the floor and down for the count," Bianca smiled, feeling better than she had in awhile as Larry moved to aid her escape.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going!" one of the guys cried out as he and his companion entered the room.

"Aw, crap," Bianca muttered under her breath as she realized she, Larry and Balki had nowhere to run.

* * *

"I said, where do you think you're going?"

"Well, I thought we'd go back to Bianca's place, have a nice chat and then call it a night," Balki replied slowly and Larry instantly placed his hand over his face in frustration.

"You thought wrong, idiot," Urpos snapped, getting ready to grab his Mypiot cousin.

Suddenly, an idea hit Larry and he sprang into action. "Hey, Balki, buddy; how happy are you?"

"I am very happy, Cousin," Balki replied with a smile.

"How happy are you, Balki?" he repeated.

"I am very, very happy!" Balki said with much more fervor, catching on to what Larry was leading up to. "In fact, we are so happy, we do the dance of joy!"

As Larry and Balki danced, he noticed how the two men could do nothing but watch in confusion and awe. Larry knew there was no way he could afford to mess this up. As he leapt into Balki's arms, he flung both legs out, squarely kicking each of them simultaneously in the jaw. Both Urpos and Lylo fell to the floor like dominoes, unconscious.

"Well, dat's gonna leave a nasty mark," Balki observed before scooping up the cat.

"Bianca, what are you doing? He's waking up!" Larry hissed, trying to pull her away as she leaned over Max's semi-unconscious body and pulled his phone from his pocket.

As the three of them ran out of the warehouse and out into the street, Larry noticed Bianca frantically trying to use Max's phone.

"I'm trying to send a message to R.O.B. so he can reboot and send the machine here so we can leave!" she panted before he could ask.

"Who cares about the machine?" Larry argued. "Let's just hail a taxi and lay low at a motel! We can have your machine sent to us there!"

"Guys, I lost–" Balki began, screeching to a halt, causing Larry and Bianca to run into him.

"Balki, don't you ever–EVER–do that again," Larry growled, spinning him around to face him.

"But, Cousin, I–" Balki stammered.

Suddenly, Bianca cried out and both Larry and Balki focused their attention to the busy street ahead.

"The cat!" Larry and Bianca cried as the feline weaved through the busy intersection, causing horns to honk and brakes to screech rapidly. The cat then darted back to Balki, but not before just bouncing off the hood of a yellow taxi, whose driver swerved and ended up squealing to a halt right next to them.

"TAXI!" Balki yelled anyway as Max's former cat returned happily in his arms.

"Well," Larry began, his face twisted in confusion as he opened the car door for Bianca, "that was oddly convenient."

Bianca's only reply was a loud and nervous sigh of both relief and exhaustion.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Larry hopped in the back seat of the cab beside Balki and slammed the door before glancing out of the rear window to see that Max and his two companions were quickly exiting the warehouse and climbing into their van.

"Take us to the Shady Tree Inn," Bianca told the driver, tossing him a twenty dollar bill.

"And _step_ on it!" Larry hissed.

"You got it," the driver replied with a tip of his cap as he slammed on the gas, sending Larry, Balki and Bianca lurching forward. "Hang on to your cats," he told them.

"You look really familiar," Bianca told him, leaning forward in her seat. "Do I know you?"

"I do not think so. I am Meego from Marmazon four-point-oh," he told her. "Have you ever been there?"

"Wait; isn't that in _Canada_?" Larry marveled.

"Yes," Meego replied slowly, seeming somewhat shocked at Lary's response.

"You know? Now that I think of it, you look familiar to me, too," Balki chimed in. "Were you ever a contestant on _The Price Is Right_?"

"No, you look more like someone famous," Bianca argued. "You look exactly like–"

"Jimmy Dean?" Meego asked

"No."

"Bradley Cooper?"

"No," Bianca giggled.

"Buck Rogers?" Balki chimed in.

"No. Now you are just being catty," Meego replied with a grin.

"Catty; that's hilarious!" Balki laughed loudly. "Where do you come _up_ with them?"

"Look, I'm sorry to break up this little game, but have you forgotten there are three angry men chasing us in a van who want to _kill us_?" Larry asked, annoyance written on his face. "Can't you go any faster?" he asked Meego.

"You are lucky this baby is equipped with rocket blasters," Meego replied as if people said that everyday. "I hope you all had a light dinner."

Suddenly, the car lurched forward and Larry audibly gasped as the world flew by in a hazy blur through the window. How fast were they going? Two hundred, three hundred miles an hour? " _Are you crazy_?" Larry yelled, trying to keep Balki from falling on top of him.

"Cousin, I don't think he was kidding when he said he had rocket bastards!" Balki cried. "We are going faster than a speeding bullet wound!"

Finally, after thirty more seconds, Larry had enough. "Stop! Stop this car!" he yelled, his voice frantic.

"Okay, okay. You want me to go faster and then you say you want me to stop. Make up your mind!" Meego retorted as he slowed the car down to a thankfully normal stop on the side of the road. "We're here, by the way."

"Uh, thanks," Bianca panted as Meego got out and opened her car door for her.

Larry would have laughed at the three of them as they got out, their entire bodies shaking like Jell-o. The only reason he didn't was because he was too worried about staying alive.

* * *

"Well, here we are; room two-twenty-two," Balki told them as he used the key to unlock the room. "At least we managed to lose Max and the guys, hoh?"

"Oh my Lord! Tell me this isn't our room," Larry cried out as soon as they walked inside.

As Balki set down his cat and looked around, he could see why his cousin was concerned. The room looked as if no one had been by to clean in in a while. The bedspreads were a tacky brown and grey design and the dark brown wallpaper was peeling badly. The two pictures on the wall above the beds were crooked and looked as if they had been painted by Picasso during a seizure. "Well," he said slowly, blowing dust off a book and coughing, "this is…nice."

"I can see now why they call this the _Shady_ Tree Inn," Larry observed distastefully. "This place hold fond dust-bunny-filled memories for you, Bianca?"

"No. It was just the first name that popped into my head, okay? Sue me!" she barked.

"Are you calling the time machine to come and rescue us now?" Balki asked, seeing that she was playing with Max's phone again.

"I'm trying."

"Is something wrong?" Larry asked, sitting down beside her on the bed.

"Max has his phone password protected. I'm trying to break the code. It's seven letters long."

"A seven-letter word for using a phone. Talking? Calling? Dialing?" Balki guessed.

Bianca glanced up at him wearily. "No, no and no."

"What about your last name? If he's obsessed with you, maybe it's Pierson," Larry pointed out.

"Tried that," Bianca replied.

Balki listened as Bianca and Larry tried several more guesses before leaning down to give the cat some more catnip and a gentle rub on its head. It was then he noticed that the cat had a collar and tag. "Cupydon," he read slowly.

"Wait; what did you just say?" Bianca asked.

"The cat has a name on his collar. It says Cupydon. C-U-P-Y-D-O-N. I _am_ saying it correctly, aren't I, Cousin?"

"Seven letters," Bianca mumbled as she typed it in. "Ha!" she cried out seconds later. "The password is his cat's name!"

"Now are you contacting R.O.B. to get us the heck outta here?" Larry pressed.

"Why, yes; yes I am," she giggled. "Thanks, Balki."

"Well, you're very welcome," Balki blushed, although he had no idea really what he had done.

Suddenly, the three of them looked up as a loud noise could be heard down the hall. It sounded like some sort of scuffle, but Balki saw that Bianca was beginning to shake.

"Balki, don't move and whatever you do, don't open the door," Larry warned, placing an arm around Bianca.

Seconds later, someone began pounding on the door fiercely. "We know you're in there, Bianca! You and your friends come out nice and easy and we won't have to break the door down!" Max's voice hollered on the other side.

Balki turned around and whispered. "They know we're in here and if we don't come out nice and easy, they are going to break down the door."

"We heard, Balki," Larry hissed before turning to Bianca. "Now would be a good time for your machine to get us outta here."

"Okay, you give us no choice, babe! On the count of three, we're breaking down the door…one…"

Suddenly, Balki turned just in time to see the machine appear in the room.

"Two…" Max called out as Larry, Bianca and Balki quickly shuffled inside the egg and closed the door.

"Go ahead, Max; do your worst!" Bianca cackled as she quickly typed in their destination and pressed the power button.

" _Three!_ "


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"You brought us back to our _apartment_? You don't think Max might try to look for us _here_?" Larry asked, eyebrow raised as they exited the machine.

"Larry, Max is still in two-thousand-thirteen. He can't touch us here; he's just a baby. We're perfectly safe."

"Oh no!" Balki cried out, looking around frantically. "I forgot Cupydon! He must be so scared! Cousin, we have to go back and get him."

"Balki, are you crazy? Max will surely capture us if we go back. Besides, Cupydon wasn't your cat to begin with; he belongs to Max the creep," Larry reasoned.

"But, Cousin, I–" Balki protested.

Bianca placed a hand on Balki's shoulder. "Balki, Larry's right. It's too dangerous to go back right now, but I promise that we will try and find him later."

Larry's head shot up at her last words, his eyes wide. "Later? We will try and find him later? Bianca, Max is looking to hurt us! I don't know about you, but I really didn't plan on tempting fate today or anytime soon."

"But Cousin, Bianca cannot stay here forever. At some point, she will have to go back to her house. Unless we deal with Max, he will always be waiting for her like a monkey on her neck. We have to go back and make sure Bianca is safe," Balki told him as they walked to the kitchen.

Larry frowned. "I know," he groaned, reaching for his bottle of liquid antacid. "I just didn't want it to have to be today. Can't you just stay here for another twenty-six years? Maybe Max will have mellowed out by then."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Bianca squeaked. Balki instantly appeared by her side and placed his arm around her while Larry quickly took a swig of his chalky stress reliever.

"Larry? Balki? It's Jennifer and Mary Anne. Are you home?" Jennifer Lyons' sweet voice called out on the other side.

Bianca quickly reached in her pocket to allow her machine to disappear, but cursed when she realized she could no longer use her cell phone without a signal or the internet. "I can't make it disappear," she hissed.

Larry ran to the door and barely opened it. "Hey, Jennifer. I really wish I could let you girls in, but you see, Balki has come down with a terrible stomach virus and I'm afraid he's just too contagious."

Balki looked up from his position at the bar and glanced at Larry and then Bianca. He hated lying. Even if there was a good reason, he hated it.

"Oh, that's _terrible_!" Jennifer replied empathetically. "Balki, if you can hear me, I hope you feel better!"

"What she said," Mary Anne added.

"Do you hear that Balki? The girls want you to get better soon!" Larry yelled, turning his head in the direction of Balki's bedroom.

"Ah–ah–a-CHOO!" Bianca suddenly sneezed, causing both Larry and Balki to look at her, albeit with different expressions.

"God bless you," Balki replied before covering his mouth with his hand in error.

"Wow, Balki must be _really_ sick if he sounds like that," Mary Anne said.

"Mary Anne, that wasn't Balki! Larry, what's going on?" Jennifer pressed.

"What's going on? Nothing, nothing. That, uh, that sound you heard was the, uh, _television_ ; yeah, the television. I was watching a documentary on allergies for an article I'm writing up in the paper," Larry replied nervously. "It's extremely boring. What do you say to maybe going out for dinner tomorrow night if Balki's feeling up to it?"

"Balki feels up to it _now_ , just in case anybody was wondering," Balki muttered under his breath, causing Bianca to stifle a giggle.

"O-okay. We'll see you later, Larry. We have to catch a flight first thing tomorrow anyway. Dinner sounds good," Jennifer replied, still talking through the crack in the door.

"Tell Balki I hope he feels better," Mary Anne added before they left.

Larry quickly shut the door and leaned up against it. "Phew! That was close."

"Cousin, why you lie to the girls and tell them I was sick? I feel fine. My head is cool as a kumquat, my throat is wet and my nasal passageways are clear," Balki told him.

"Balki, if I had let the girls in, they would have seen Bianca and," he stopped, pointing at the machine, " _that_ thing and would have asked a million questions. Is that what you want; for Jennifer and Mary Anne to find out that we're hiding a _time machine_? Just think of the repercussions, Balki."

"I don't want to think about percussions, Cousin. I just want help keep Bianca safe so that Max doesn't try to hurt her or anyone else again."

"Well, that's what I want, too, Balki!" Larry scoffed. "Bianca, help me out here, You see why I had no choice but to lie to the girls, right?"

Bianca reached on top of the refrigerator, grabbed an aerosol can of cheese and sprayed some in her mouth. "Right now, all I can think about is food," she mumbled. "I think we all need some serious nourishment before we think about doing anything else."

Balki smiled. "Oh, Cousin, can we order Chinese food from that new restaurant that opened on Fifth Avenue?"

"Bianca, what do you say? Do you like Chinese food?" Larry asked, his hand on the phone.

Bianca nodded her head before filling her mouth with more cheese. "Does it look like I care?"

Larry raised his eyebrows and looked at Balki in amusement. "Apparently not."

* * *

Bianca sat down her container of moo goo gai pan and sighed happily. It was hard to believe that something so simple as food could help not only her mood but her mental state, as well. "Well, that was good, but now we really need to go back to my house and retrieve my iPad before Max gets it and–"

Suddenly, the three of them looked up as a familiar buzzing sound reverberated from the living room and saw that Bianca's precious time machine had disappeared into thin air!

"Bianca, your machine; it _vanished_!" Larry cried out, his eyes wide with horror. "That must mean that Max found a way to control it and he's on his way here to _kill_ us!"

"You mean we don't get to read our fortunes in the fortune cookie?" Balki asked.

"Here's our fortunes: we're _doomed_!" Larry panicked, grabbing Balki's arms as they sat side by side on the sofa.

"It's coming back," Bianca told them, hearing the machine as it made its return. "Dammit! They must've found my iPad and hacked into it already!"

Sure enough, the machine reappeared with Max, his two sidekicks and Cupydon. They almost looked laughable as they resembled clowns packed into a tiny car, but Bianca noticed she wasn't shaking from laughter, but from fear.

Urpos threw open the door and practically fell out. "We meet again," he panted, grabbing the liquid antacid off the counter and taking a gulp.

"Hey, that belong to Cousin Larry!" Balki scolded.

"Hello, babe," Max greeted with a smile as he reached over to graze Bianca's cheek with the back of his hand. Bianca recoiled and responded with a brisk slap across his face.

Max touched his now red jaw and glowered at her. "You just made a stupid move, my dear."

Bianca watched out of the corner of her eye as Larry and Balki slowly and carefully made their way toward the machine. She had to stall. "You have my iPad, don't you?"

Max proudly opened his black leather jacket to reveal it. "Good guess. You really didn't think just because you stole my phone that all was lost, did you?"

"No. I guess you just thought of _everything_ , didn't you?"

"I guess so. Now are you coming with me willingly or do I have to use force again?" he asked as he, Lylo and Urpos closed in around her.

Quickly, Bianca grabbed a bottle of hot sauce and threw the contents in their faces before running to the time machine.

"Bianca, hurry!" Larry cried as Balki stepped out for a moment to let her inside.

Furiously, Bianca typed in a destination and didn't even think to shut the machine door as she pressed the power button.

Unfortunately, she also forgot to allow time for Balki to re-enter the machine before it disappeared.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Cousin? Bianca?" Balki asked softly as the machine disappeared from right in front of him. What had happened? One minute, he was letting Bianca get inside and the next minute, she and Larry had gone, leaving him behind with Max, Urpos and Lylo.

"Well, well, well," Max grinned from ear to ear, his face dripping wet after having to stick his head under the faucet to relieve the burning. "Look who got left behind."

"Ha!" Balki threw back his head and cried. "That what _you_ think! What you don't know is you are in deep babasticki as soon as Cousin Larry and Bianca come back!"

"You really think they're going to come back for you?" Urpos scoffed.

"Well of _course_ I do; don't be ridiculous."

"Okay, smart guy. When?"

"I have no idea," Balki grimaced.

"Grab him, Lylo," Max ordered.

Lylo quickly reached up and grabbed Balki around the throat with one hand, pinning him up against the wall by the apartment door. "What do you think _now_ , smart guy?"

"Well," Balki replied, his voice strained. "You could use a breath mint and possibly some moisturizer for your dry skin, but other than that, you're good."

Max pulled out his gun and pointed it at Balki. "What about now?"

Lylo let him go and Balki placed both hands up in defeat. "I got nothing."

"You keep your mouth shut, understand? I don't want to hear a peep outta you until I say so. Got it?" Max spat, putting his arm around Balki while keeping the other hand with the gun tucked safely under his jacket.

Balki nodded in reply as he let the three men escort him out of the apartment building and hail a taxi. Where were Larry and Bianca? Surely they had a plan, didn't they?

* * *

"Where _are_ we?" Larry asked, still feeling the Earth shake after the ride. "Balki, are you–?" Larry turned around mid-sentence to find an empty space where Balki should have been. Within seconds, panic set in. "Balki? Balki! Bianca; Balki's not here! He's not in the machine! What if he fell out when we forgot to close the door? There's no telling _where_ he could be; he could be wandering through space and time! Bianca, what are we going to _do_?" he gasped, clutching her arms as if his life depended on it.

"First, we're going to let me go and breathe! We are in Beverly Hills," Bianca replied through gritted teeth as they exited the machine. "Then, we're going to quickly get another iPad and figure out how to _destroy_ Max Fagen!"

Now it was Larry's turn to grit his teeth. "Question. How are we going to go back to get Balki and destroy Max Fagen when he already has your iPad?"

Bianca looked around to the darkened alleyway they had appeared in and saw a twenty-four hour hardware store across the street. "We need to go in there. Don't ask questions, just follow me."

"We're just going to leave your machine _here_?" Larry gaped.

"I said don't ask questions," Bianca replied icily as she ran to the crosswalk.

Larry shook his head in confusion and followed her. He was itching for his clipboard and liquid antacid, but mostly, he was worried about Balki. If he was still in the apartment with Max, there was no telling what could happen. _Breathe, Appleton, breathe,_ he scolded himself harshly, trying to breathe from his nose but sounding more as if he were a dog sniffing out a trail. He just hoped that Bianca's plan would work and they could rescue Balki, get Bianca home and Max, Lylo and Urpos would be locked away for good.

Once inside the hardware store, Bianca quickly scanned each aisle, throwing several pipes, screws, nails and Plexiglas pieces into her buggy as if she did this all the time. The last thing she bought was a sledgehammer, which amused yet disturbed Larry.

"I know you said no more questions," Larry whispered as they walked to the check out line, "but just what exactly is your plan?"

"You'll see when I'm done," she answered before turning her attention to the sales clerk. "Excuse me, but do you guys have an all-night electronics store around close-by?"

The sales clerk popped her gum. "Yeah, there's one a couple of blocks from here. It's called Crazy Alex's Electronics–big neon sign–you can't miss it."

"Thank you," Bianca responded, turning to Larry. "Um, I need a favor."

"Sure."

"That'll be two hundred sixty nine dollars and seventy four cents," the sales clerk announced in a monotone.

"I know you have a fat wallet, right?" Bianca smiled. "I sorta left my purse at the house."

Larry's eyes widened. " _Two hundred sixty nine dollars?!_ "

"And seventy four cents," the lady finished.

"Do it for Balki," Bianca winked.

"Huh. _Women_ ," Larry scoffed as he pulled out his wallet.

"I wouldn't complain, if I were you," the sales lady replied curtly, looking Larry up and down.

Larry grimaced. Bianca actually was incredibly beautiful. Too bad he already had a gorgeous girlfriend or Larry might have developed feelings for Bianca, instead. "She's my sister," he replied quickly, aware that the more he thought about Bianca, the more he felt his face turn red.

"Wait for me!" he yelled when he saw that Bianca was already walking in the direction of the electronics store. "Let me guess. I'll need to use my cash for our future purchases at the electronics place, too?"

"That would be helpful, yes," she drawled. "Then a clothing store so I can get the hell out of this dress."

"And exactly how is all of this money I'm spending helping Balki?"

"You'll see."

"No," Larry argued, stepping in front of Bianca to stop her. "I need to know now. If you have a plan, I need to know what it is. I don't like _not_ having a plan. What's…the plan?"

"The plan is we're going to do what Max asked. We're going to build another time machine."

"What? You're just going to do what he asks? Bianca, that's _insane_! There's no telling what he could do with his own time machine! I mean, think this through!"

Suddenly, without any warning, Bianca kicked off her shoes and raced back toward the alley. Larry had to run as hard as he could to keep up with her until they reached her machine, right where they had left it.

"No, Larry; I'm not going to build Max another time machine!" she cried, grabbing the sledgehammer. "I'm going to build another one for _me_!"

Larry hollered as she raised the sledgehammer over her shoulder and swung it with all her might until her original masterpiece was in multiple pieces in the alleyway. Was she completely mental? How were they going to be able to rescue Balki now? "Oh my Lord! What are you doing?"

"Destroying this one so that Max and his goons can't use it anymore. Then I'm going to build another one from scratch. Then only I can control it!" she panted.

"Couldn't you have just loosened a wire and caused the computers to malfunction or something?"

"I could have, but why do something half-heartedly?" she smiled thinly. "Besides, that felt really, really good!"

Larry stood there staring at the pile of rubble that had once been their mode of transportation. Bianca Pierson was something else. He wasn't sure what, but she was definitely–

"Larry, come on!" Bianca cried.

Larry looked up, aware that she was already rounding the block. "Coming!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Bianca sat in the middle of the hotel room floor, her tools and other supplies strewn around her and took a sip of her coffee. Smiling, she looked up at the sleeping figure lying on one of the beds. Larry had insisted on staying up all night with her and helping her, but she had insisted that he rest and forego his own cup of java. Both of them were worried sick about Balki, but Bianca was better at covering up her worry by diving into her work. At least with Larry asleep, he couldn't see the stray tears that cascaded down her cheek ever so often as she thought about being betrayed by Max, the kidnapping, being worried about Balki and her own twinge of guilt. Surely there was something she could've done differently to keep Larry and Balki out of danger.

"Grandfather, if you can hear me now, you have to help me. I've put innocent lives in danger because of my stupidity. Now Larry and Balki are separated and it's all my fault for trusting that creep Max. I just don't know what to do and I don't know if I can recreate this machine in time to save Balki. Just please tell me what to do or give me a sign," she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks once more.

"Bianca?" Larry mumbled, stirring.

"Everything's fine, Larry. Go back to sleep," she sniffed.

Larry looked at her before climbing off the bed and sitting across from her. "No, everything's not alright. You're crying. And who were you talking to?"

Bianca smiled through her tears. "My grandfather, may he rest in peace. If ever I needed his wisdom, it's now."

"I'm sorry about your grandfather, but it's nice that you still talk to him," Larry replied, rolling the screwdriver back and forth in his hands. "A couple of months ago, Balki's grandmother, Yaya Biki passed away on her way here to America to see Balki. He tried to pretend he wasn't sad, but I told him it would help if he talked to her and told her goodbye. If you, uh, don't mind me asking, how long has your grandfather–"

"Fourteen years," Bianca interrupted. "You see, my grandfather and I had this amazing connection; it defied all logic. He was an inventor and a tech geek like me and he taught me everything I know. When I was five, I remember he told me 'Bianca, you and I have a bond like no other; you know it and I know it. If ever you should need me, no matter when or where, all you have to do is think of that bond and our love and we can communicate as if we were in the same room.'"

"Wow. And did it _work_?"

Bianca smiled and wiped away a tear. "Yeah, it did. I've been talking to my grandfather ever since. Of course now that he's gone, we can't have conversations, but I can still hear him occasionally or can feel him around me. Maybe you and Balki have that bond."

Larry stared down at the screwdriver sheepishly. "I just hope he's okay. I know Balki can take care of himself, but I just hate not knowing if he thinks we abandoned him; that _I've_ abandoned him."

"Then try it. If you truly love Balki more than you love yourself, just close your eyes and concentrate. Focus all of your love and energy on Balki and maybe, perhaps, your bond is as strong as mine and Grandfather's."

Larry looked at her hopefully. "I guess I could give it a try."

Bianca stood up and walked towards the door. "You talk to Balki and I'll go get some more of those free cookies and coffee in the lobby."

As soon as Bianca left, tears formed once again in the corner of her eyes. "Please Grandfather. Let Larry connect with Balki the way we do. That's all I ask."

* * *

"Balki?"

Balki tried to raise his head up to look around, but it felt as if it were filled with rocks. His throat was parched and he felt cold sweat drip down his neck. He tried to remember what happened after Max, Lylo and Urpos took him out of the apartment, but the fog in his brain was too thick.

"Balki, can you hear me buddy?"

"Hoh?" he mumbled, knowing he heard that voice somewhere before. Licking his lips, he spoke in a hoarse voice. "Who dat?"

"It's _me_ , Balki; it's Larry! Are you hurt? Are–are you alright?"

"Cousin? Is that really you or is it just a collage?" he asked, forcing himself to look up and around.

"I'm sorry, Balki. I'm still with Bianca. We're trying to get back to Chicago to save you, buddy, I promise. Bianca is trying to build a new time machine so we can get back. Balki, listen to me; it's going to be alright. Just stay strong," Larry's voice told him, his voice cracking.

Suddenly, Balki remembered that Max had shoved him in a taxi and they drove to an abandoned cottage-like house before one of Max's friends hit him over the head with something. When Balki came to, he was tied to yet another metal chair and forced to drink some nasty liquid that tasted like pepper juice and liquidized sulfur. He tried to remember what he heard before he felt the world spin around him and passed out again. He felt it was something important…

"Balki, are you still there?" Cousin Larry's voice cried out desperately. "Balki, please talk to me."

"I'm trying to remember, Cousin, but I have a headache the size of a Texan."

"What are you trying to remember? Is it important? If it is, you _need_ to remember. Focus and remember."

"The machine. Where is the machine?" Balki asked slowly.

"Bianca took a sledgehammer to it last night. She's building another one so Max can't control it with her iPad device."

"I hope Urpos wasn't still inside. That would have been– _Urpos_!" Balki cried, his voice sounding back to normal and excited again. "Cousin, I remember!"

"Sssh, keep your voice down! You don't want Max to hear you!" Larry scolded.

"Sorry, Cousin," he said, his voice an octave lower.

"No, Balki, I mean don't talk so _loud_. What about Urpos?"

"Before I pass out from whatever Max gave me to drink, he says, 'Urpos, I'm going to make the time machine appear and I want you to get inside and go back to where Bianca and Larry are. Find them and bring Bianca to me,'" Balki told him, imitating Max's cold and harsh voice.

"But Bianca destroyed the machine, so there's no way he could have gotten–unless he showed up while we were at the hardware store! Oh my Lord, I've got to warn Bianca!" Larry panicked.

"Now, Cousin, don't lose your mind. Bianca is there with you and she–"

"No, she's not! She left to get some food from the lobby! Balki, I have to find her before Urpos does! Thank you, Balki and I promise, buddy; we're going to come back for you. I just hope we come back _alive_!"

Balki could feel sleep drifting back, but he didn't want to lose Larry. "Cousin, wait. Don't go. Promise that you'll keep…an eye on Cupydon. I don't know where…he is…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Larry dashed down the hotel stairway as quickly as his short legs could move before literally skidding into the lobby, stopping just inches shy of Bianca.

Bianca turned around, sloshing some of her orange juice out of its Styrofoam cup. "Oh, Larry! There you are! I had no idea that it was already morning! I brought you some–"

Larry hastily grabbed the orange juice and the jelly doughnut from her hand and set it down on a nearby counter. "There's no time to eat. We have to leave; _now_!"

"But Larry, I haven't finished the machine yet. We can't leave."

"No, you don't understand. I _did_ it; I was able to talk to Balki and he said that Max retrieved the time machine while we were at the hardware store and he sent Urpos back here! For all we know, he could be watching our every move as we _speak_!"

"Are you sure? I destroyed it, remember?"

"Yes, but while we were out shopping, that would've given him just enough time to come looking for us! Now that he has no way back, who's to say he won't find us and kill us both? Bianca, _please_ ; let's just get the hell out of here now!"

"I'd take Curly Sue's advice there, sweetie," a voice snickered from behind Bianca.

Bianca spun around and instinctively clutched Larry's arm for support. "How fast can you run?" she whispered to him.

"When my life is on the line? Like the wind," he replied before they both bolted through the lobby and out into the street. "Now would be a great time to have a car–or better yet–a time machine."

"Don't get snippy," Bianca warned as they turned the corner. "I've got an idea."

"You do? Oh good."

"Get in!" Bianca cried as she opened the door of an abandoned van on the side of the road and hopped inside

"Your idea is to steal a car? Are you _crazy_?" Larry objected.

"Do you want to save your life and get to Balki? If so, get in!" she yelled.

Larry looked back just in time to see Urpos hijack a car from a woman and climb inside before Larry literally dove into the back seat.

"How did you know the keys were in the ignition?" Larry gasped, out of breath as she started the engine and sped off.

"Just lucky, I guess. There's only one _eensy-weensy_ problem," Bianca replied.

"Do I wanna know?" Larry muttered.

"You might. The problem is…. _I can't drive_!" she squealed as the van crashed through a chain link fence.

"What do you _mean_ you can't drive?" Larry screamed, his eyes wild.

"I haven't manually driven a car since I was eighteen! I rigged all my cars to be able to drive _themselves_!" she wailed.

"And yet your big idea is to get behind the wheel and drive the streets of Beverly Hills? What kind of a plan is–LOOK OUT!"

Bianca screamed and swerved the van hard to the right, barely missing an SUV going the other way. "I can't look!"

Larry did a double take, appalled. "Don't close your eyes!" he hollered, seeing as she covered her face with her hands. "Keep your eyes uncovered, open and on the _road_!"

Bianca did as she was told, just in time to swerve again, this time to dodge hitting the curb. "Do you see Urpos?"

"I'll tell you as soon as my life stops flashing before my eyes," he retorted before looking behind them. "No. I think all the swerving you did confused him. Now can we please just stop the van? I felt safer letting _Meego_ drive us!"

"Simple question: how exactly do I stop?"

Larry ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. "The _brake_ ; the _brake_. Hit…the…brake!"

"Okay!" Bianca cried out, getting ready to press her foot on the brake pedal.

"Not in the middle of the _street_! Pull over to the side of the road and _then_ hit the brake!"

"Oh, yeah, right."

Larry sighed with relief as Bianca pulled into a parking lot of an art gallery and stopped the car. With a shaky hand, Larry reached over and shifted the gear into park before glaring at her. "Well, that was something I'd never like to do again! I can't believe you just got into a van without _knowing_ how to drive! Bianca, why can't you just…be normal?"

With that, Larry got out of the van and walked toward the art gallery, his legs wobbling like jelly.

* * *

Bianca sat in the front seat of the van, numb all over. The only noise she could hear was the sound of Larry's voice repeating over and over, "Bianca, why can't you just…be normal…normal…normal…"

"I have to get out and get some air," she whispered to no one in particular as she stumbled out of the van and entered the art gallery. "Excuse me," she said to the man behind the counter, "which way did the man with curly dark hair go?"

"Oh, hello. He went to use the facilities. Can I interest you in any of our show pieces? A private tour? An espresso with a leh-mon tweest?" the man replied in an accent so jumbled, Bianca had to concentrate hard to understand.

"Uh, no thanks," she mumbled, gazing around, hoping he didn't see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Well, my name is Serge and if you need anything, just say it. I am here to serve, after all," he replied somewhat satirically.

 _Bianca, why can't you just be normal?_ she swore she heard one of the statues mock her from its place in the window.

"Oh, I see you look at this piece," Serge brightened, coming around to her side. "This was done by the great sculptor J.J. Knoxwurst–terrible name, but _brilliant_ artiste–and I'm very excited to show it to you…"

"Thank you, but I'm fine," she whispered hoarsely before running out of the gallery and leaning up against the van, tears streaming down her cheeks.

A minute later, Larry came back, oblivious. "That Serge guy was extremely hard to understand; I almost had to call you in as an interpreter."

Bianca kept her back to him, unable to control her emotions. She only nodded her head in reply.

"Bianca, are you alright? You're shaking," Larry said, taking off his jacket and draping it around her shoulders.

Bianca let out a small hiccup but refused to turn around until Larry grabbed her upper arm and forced her to turn towards him.

"Bianca, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" he asked in surprise, still holding her arm.

"Because…you said…why can't I…be _normal_? You're right; I wish I… _was_ normal!" she continued to hiccup, her voice racked with sobs.

A pained look washed over Larry's face as he realized what he had said. "Oh, Bianca; I'm so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I–I was just so upset and shocked when you told me you couldn't drive. I'm such an idiot for saying something so hurtful to the one person who's done nothing but try and help. Please, Bianca; can you ever forgive me?"

Bianca leaned forward and allowed him to hold her while she continued to cry. "I just feel so terrible. This is all my fault. You and Balki wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for my stupid time machine!"

Larry pulled back and looked into her teary eyes as light rain began to fall around them. "Balki would be crushed if he heard you talk like that. He _adores_ you…and quite frankly; so do I. I can't imagine my life without you in it," he told her.

A smile tugged at Bianca's mouth before Larry surprised her with a sweet, tender kiss. Bianca returned the kiss, feeling more hopeful than she had in a long time.

A few seconds later, Larry pulled away, but still kept his face inches from hers. "We should probably get back in the van so we don't catch cold," he whispered, eyes still closed.

"Only if you drive," she replied back, dangling the keys in front of his face so she could lighten the moment. After all, as bad as she wanted to kiss him again, she knew he already had a girlfriend and she definitely did not need to be the cause of any more problems. From now on, her focus had to remain on building the machine and rescuing Balki.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Balki jumped as he heard the front door to the cottage burst open and Max storm inside furiously.

"Where is he? He's had plenty of time to find Bianca by now or at least check in with me," Max growled.

"Did you lose something? Or perhaps someone?" Balki smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"What are _you_ smirking about, you little pipsqueak? It's not like you know anything."

"Oh, but I do," Balki replied, the smile never leaving his face.

"You're bluffing," Max scowled.

"You think so, hoh? Well, just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, then," Balki replied.

Max leaned up against the living room wall, since the cottage was void of furniture. He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "Okay, then. Tell me what you know; or better yet; what you think you know."

"I think I know more than you think I know, I know that," Balki said. "At least I think I know more than you think I know, but maybe I know more than I think and–"

Max lunged at Balki, landing just a few inches from the Mypiot's face. "Just _tell_ me!"

"Okay, don't have a Little Caesars," Balki told him. "The truth is that Urpos can't come back here with Bianca and Cousin Larry. And do you want to know _why_?"

"Yes, Balki; tell me why," Max growled.

"Because the machine has been oblivion-ated. Bianca chopped it down just like Grover Washington did to the cherry tree."

Max raised an eyebrow. "You mean George Washington and do you really think I'm stupid enough to believe your story?"

"Well," Balki scoffed. "I'm not here to judge."

"There's one major flaw in your fabrication," Max pointed out.

"If you're going to make fun of my outfit, you're baaing up the wrong tree because your yellow tie doesn't do well for your complexion at all," Balki told him.

"I don't mean your _outfit_ , you idiot! I mean your story! If Bianca destroyed her machine, then how does she plan to rescue you? Or maybe, Bianca and Cousin Larry decided to get rid of you once and for all!"

Balki opened his mouth to reply, but Lylo walked in the room, holding an alarm clock.

"You see this clock?" Max said, shoving it in front of Balki's face. "It's set to go off in three hours! If Urpos doesn't come back with Bianca and Larry, dead or alive, by the time this goes off, then I'm afraid _you_ lose!"

"I don't even get to take home a parting gift?" Balki asked meekly.

"You won't need a parting gift, because you'll be _dead_! I'll teach Bianca to mess with the fabric of time!"

"What is it with you and fabric?" Balki asked, trying not to stare at the clock.

"She thought she was so smart to build that time machine and help save Mypos! My dad worked hard to make Atropo a mega-billion dollar deal and his dreams were destroyed! All because of you and that damned time machine! I can't wait until Urpos comes back with Bianca and finds you gone forever. Then I'll get rid of your pathetic cousin and Bianca will be my slave!" Max cackled.

"Wait; what you talking about? Liki Bopado is your _papa_?" Balki asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Yes, and he's also Lylo and Urpos' uncle, too. You see, we had a future until Bianca saved your wretched lives! Things were supposed to work out for us! You were never supposed to get in the way, but because of her, my papa lost everything! So now, _Bianca_ is going to know what it feels like to lose everything. In three hours, you die. As soon as Bianca comes back–and she will–I'll kill your wretched cousin and keep her for myself! She'll rue the day she played God!"

Balki gulped as Max and Lylo laughed like two crazed lunatics. He wasn't sure how his cousin was able to talk to him earlier, but he wished he was able to return the favor. As Lylo set the clock on the floor, he quickly glanced at the time. Two hours and fifty-eight minutes.

 _Oh, Cousin; please hurry. Time is of the Herbal Essence!_ his mind cried out as he closed his eyes and hoped for a miracle.

* * *

Larry was shaking from head to toe as they returned to the hotel. He had tried reasoning with Bianca all the way back from the art gallery, but she rejected every excuse of why it was dangerous. Truthfully, he knew it was the only way they could rescue Balki, but that didn't mean he had to like going back to the hotel.

As soon as they walked into the lobby, a maid was screaming at the desk clerk. "I'm not going anywhere near room one-seventeen and that's _final_! I was attacked!" she whined.

The desk clerk scoffed. "Please; you weren't attacked! Scratched at best."

Larry leaned over to Bianca. "Isn't one-seventeen _our_ room?" he whispered in her ear.

Bianca nodded. "Um, excuse me. No one has to clean the room. I specifically placed a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. Now can someone _please_ tell me why the maid was scratched or whatever?" she asked the clerk.

The maid pointed down the hall to their room. "See for yourself!"

Larry and Bianca peered around the maid to see something small perched right in front of the door. "The _cat_!" they both cried suddenly, looking at each other in shock.

"Cupydon must've jumped inside the machine when we took off from the apartment," Larry realized as they slowly made their way towards the door.

"Nice kitty," Bianca whispered nervously. "Nice Cupydon."

Larry jumped as the cat made a sudden leap, but surprisingly, landed in Bianca's arms, purring softly. "Well, _that_ was slightly terrifying."

"No kidding," Bianca exhaled as they re-entered the room, but Cupydon jumped from her arms and slithered back out into the hallway where he had been before. "What is that crazy cat doing?"

Larry raised an eyebrow. "I think he's standing guard outside our room."

"Yeah, that's not weird at all," Bianca muttered before taking her position on the floor in front of her mess.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe we should place all of the outer pieces in a pile and then make a separate pile of the interior design. Then we could group them together by color, size and even alphabetically," Larry offered.

"We're trying to build this machine faster, not turn it into a television series on DIY Network," Bianca reminded him sharply.

Larry opened his mouth to reply, but a loud noise could be heard from the lobby and instantly, Bianca stood up as if she'd been shot.

"Stay here," Larry whispered, gingerly walking to the door and staring through the peephole in the door.

"I'm coming, Bianca!" Urpos' voice sang out as he came down the hallway. "Oh, what's this? Max's cat, huh? Well, he'll be happy to see–"

Suddenly, Larry watched as Cupydon leapt into the air with a loud hiss and landed on Urpos' face, scratching and clawing at it. Urpos screamed and tried to swat at the cat, but it was no use. Cupydon was relentless until Urpos backed away, his hands covering his now scarred face.

Larry opened the door as far as the latch would allow. "That's right, Urpos! Leave Bianca alone!"

"Is he gone?" Bianca asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Yeah, he ran out of here pretty quickly," Larry returned her smile.

"Meow," Cupydon sounded, seeming quite pleased with himself before he walked down the hallway to the lobby. Halfway, he glanced back and looked at Bianca and Larry, as if letting them know he wanted them to follow.

"What do you think he _wants_?" Larry asked, realizing how strange it was to be following a cat.

When they got to the lobby, Cupydon jumped onto the counter and rubbed his fur up against the fax machine, purring wildly.

"Will you please get this cat away from my desk?" the hotel desk clerk asked, a disgusted look on his tanned face.

Suddenly, Bianca squealed with delight and scooped Cupydon in her arms. "This cat is a _genius_!"

"How is that?" Larry and the clerk asked in unison.

"I need your fax number. I'm going to be expecting a fax in a few minutes," she replied to the clerk, grabbing a notepad and pencil before turning to Larry. "Here is my phone number," she scribbled before tearing off the sheet. "Call R.O.B. and ask if he can fax over the diagram of the thing I'm working on."

The desk clerk handed her a business card with the hotel's facsimile number. "Give this number to R.O.B. and he'll know what to do," she continued. "Got it?"

Larry nodded before heading back to their room. "Got it."

 _Hang in there, Balki buddy; we're coming to get you soon,_ he thought to himself as he re-entered the room and began dialing Bianca's phone number.


	11. Chapter 11

**SIDE** **NOTE:** Yes, for those of you writers and critics out there, I know my story seems to be lacking a little in its solidity. BUT not all hope is lost. There is a reason behind my chaos. Just wait about 3 more chapters after this…..

 **Chapter Eleven**

An hour later, Bianca was working furiously. R.O.B. had faxed her the diagram and instructions from her first time machine and she was already halfway finished. Larry had brought them lunch from a nearby fast food joint and was reading the instructions to her, albeit she knew it made no sense to him whatsoever. Cupydon resumed his post at the door, although he was now inside the room, a bowl of milk nearby.

"You know, I've been thinking about Cupydon," Larry began.

"You mean what a stupid name that is for a cat?" Bianca joked, talking a loud slurp of her vanilla milkshake.

Larry laughed. "Well, there's definitely that, but I'm also curious as to how smart he is. It seems like ever since we first saw him, he's helped us out somehow. He helped free Balki, he hailed that taxi cab from Hell, he helped you figure out the password to Max's phone–"

"I know, right? I mean, Balki had catnip in his pocket, so any cat would go nuts trying to get to it, and the taxi cab thing seemed pretty coincidental, but after that, Cupydon's taken on a whole new personality. He's on our side," Bianca interrupted.

Suddenly, the cat made a noise and Bianca grabbed Larry as the cat began to morph from its small form to that of a grown man! A very familiar grown man!

"Oh my Lord! _Meego_? This can't be happening!" Larry's eyes grew wide as he ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"Oh, but it _is_!" Meego smiled. "I knew when the three of you–four including the original Cupydon–climbed into my taxi that you were in need of help. So, I took the form of Balki's four-legged furry friend and decided to keep an eye on you. Glad I did, too; you guys need all the help you can _get_!"

"But how is that even _possible_?" Larry gaped.

"Marmazon four-point-oh isn't in Canada, is it?" Bianca grinned.

"You are correct. Marmazon four-point-oh is a sister planet of Earth. Now, I must not keep you from building your time machine. So, I will return to form as Cupydon while you continue. If you need me, I'll be in the corner, licking myself," he told them before morphing back into the same grey and white cat as before.

"I–I don't believe that just happened!" Larry stated, still dumbfounded.

"Well, believe it. And while you're believing, can you hand me the torque converter?" Bianca asked.

"The _what_?" Larry asked.

Bianca leaned over and showed him the picture in the diagram and Larry quickly retrieved it. As he handed it to her, his hand brushed hers and he felt his face get hot. Why did she do this to him? He loved Jennifer with all of his heart, but there was no denying the chemistry between he and Bianca, either!

"I–I think I need to get some air," he stammered, standing up so quickly, he felt woozy.

"Larry, wait; take Cupydon–I mean Meego–with you, okay? I'd feel better."

"Oh, did I say I needed air?" Larry quickly recanted. "I meant I needed to wash my hair. I'll just take a quick shower." _A cold shower,_ he added to himself.

* * *

"She's a maniac, maniac on the floor; and she's dancin' like she never danced before," Balki sang, trying to keep his mind on anything but the alarm clock poised directly in front of him on the floor.

"Will you shut up?" Lylo growled before stuffing a piece of chocolate in his mouth. "I'm trying to eat my Snickers bar."

"Well, excuse me for trying to liven up the room with a few musical selections," Balki drawled. "I take requests."

"Yeah, I got one. How about Europe's 'The Final Countdown'? Sounds about appropriate, doesn't it?" Lylo laughed, nearly choking on his candy.

Balki gasped. "You're going to get rid of Europe, _too_? What have they ever done to you?"

"Not the country, you moron; the _band_! There is a band called Europe and they have a song–"

"Quit socializing with the death row inmate, Lylo," Max walked in the front door, carrying a small paper bag. "I bought you your last meal, Balki. Hope you don't mind that it's only half a grilled cheese sandwich. It would've been a whole one, but I got hungry on the way here."

"I need to go to the bathroom," Balki replied, wiggling in his seat.

Max rolled his eyes. "Alright, Lylo; untie him and take him to the bathroom."

As soon as Lylo untied him, Balki felt better, but seconds later, he was roughly jerked to a standing position. Blood rushed to Balki's head and he stumbled, seeing dark clouds form in front of his eyes. "The room is spinning like a cradle," he mumbled.

"Cradles don't spin, Mypiot; _dreidels_ do! Now move!" Lylo spat.

Balki managed to make it the rest of the way down the hall and to the small bathroom on the left. As Lylo started to enter behind him, Balki turned around slowly, looking him up and down. "Do you mind?" he asked slowly.

"Just make it quick."

"I'll do my best," Balki retorted before shutting the door. He had to find a way out of here, but _how_? The bathroom had no windows and he couldn't necessarily flush himself down the toilet or shower drain.

Suddenly, he saw a vent near the floor by the sink. If he could open the vent covering and slide through, maybe he could escape _that_ way! Balki began to open drawers and cabinets quietly, albeit frantically, hoping there was something that could be used as a screwdriver.

"Are you about finished in there?" Lylo grunted.

Balki opened the door and poked his head out. "You wouldn't happen to have any reading materials, would you?"

"Are you _serious_?" Lylo gaped.

"Well, of _course_ I am; don't be ridiculous. Please, Lylo?"

Lylo sighed. "Fine. But you'd better not be trying to pull the wool over my eyes."

"Now why would I do a thing like that? Pulling wool over someone's eyes is very uncomfortable; not to mention itchy."

Lylo grumbled something, but left. Balki heard him place a chair under the knob so that he couldn't leave the bathroom.

"Now, I need something small and screwy," he whispered, returning to the drawers and cabinets.

After a couple of minutes, he found some nail clippers with a small nail file attached. It had to work!

Carefully, he bent down and began to work, using the file as a makeshift screwdriver. "It's working; it's _working_!" he cried softly as he managed to unscrew the top left screw. "Only three more to go."

Balki was just getting started on the second screw when he felt something like a needle stick him in the upper arm. He let out a cry of pain before his vision became instantly blurry.

"Reading material my _foot_!" Max's voice said gruffly before he effortlessly picked Balki up, threw him over his shoulder and carried him back to the living room.

"I'm in deep babasticki," Balki moaned as he looked at the clock and saw that there was only an hour left. "Cousin, where are you and Bianca?"

"Hopefully on their way here or dead," Max replied, tying him up before Balki's head drooped and the world went black.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"Well, how does she _look_?" Bianca asked, wiping the sweat from her brow as she stood in their hotel room.

Larry stroked his chin thoughtfully while carefully observing her project. "' _She_ ' looks like a giant egg. Now let's just hope it's an egg that can travel through _time_ ," he told her after a minute.

"I need to test it first. I can send myself to the art gallery ten minutes into the future. It needs to crawl before it can walk."

"Great. Let's hurry before–"

Bianca placed her hand up to stop him. "No. I need to go by myself. You stay here with Meego, also known as Cupydon. I'm only ninety percent sure that this works and you need to be here in case something goes wrong. If I'm not back in twenty minutes, call R.O.B. and he'll know what to do. I sent him the machine codes via the computer inside. He can control it now if need be."

Larry rocked back and forth on his heels. "Okay. Just please promise me you'll be careful. Maybe _you_ should take Meego, just in case."

"No. If Urpos finds out you're here alone, he could come after you. I'll be fine," Bianca protested, grabbing his hands and squeezing them gently before stepping into the machine.

"Please, _please_ be careful," Larry begged as she punched the destination in the computer and closed the door.

Bianca crossed her fingers, pressed the power button and held her breath. At least she didn't tell him about the chance that the machine could self-destruct while trying to travel through time. That would have been tough to explain….

When Bianca opened her eyes again, she knew she couldn't be dead. The machine was still in one piece and when she turned to her left, she saw the best thing ever: the art gallery! It _worked_! Her beloved machine's sequel was a success. Throwing open the door with exuberant joy, she skipped out of the machine and towards the entrance to the gallery.

"Serge?" she called out, but he was nowhere to be found behind his post.

"Looking for someone?" a voice not belonging to Serge asked before grabbing her from behind.

"Urpos!" she cried out, struggling to free herself. "Serge, _HELP_!" she screamed, but he clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Bad move, Bianca. Looks like I'm gonna have to kill you _and_ the receptionist now."

Bianca's mind raced. Surely Urpos didn't really plan to murder _Serge_! Either way, she had to do something and fast. Raising her foot just barely off the ground, she managed to stomp as hard as she could on Urpos' toes. Howling, he let her go and stumbled around, grabbing his wounded foot.

Suddenly, Bianca saw Serge come around the corner and Bianca quickly grabbed the head of a nearby statue. "Urpos, catch!" Bianca hissed before tossing the statue at him.

Urpos let go of his injury and caught the marble cranium just as Bianca ran towards Serge, who was heading for the back door. "Serge! That man is trying to steal that statue head!" she yelled as she ran past him and out the door, Urpos not too far behind.

Serge let out a dramatic gasp and Bianca thought she heard him say something about Urpos being a pheasant fiend before literally running and jumping on Urpos' back, tackling him to the ground. As Urpos fell, the statue head came tumbling out of his hands as if in slow motion.

Quickly, Bianca dove to the ground, arms stretched wide, barely catching it before the piece of valuable art shattered on the parking lot.

Serge clutched his heart with one hand while expertly pinning Urpos down with his other hand and his knees. Urpos let out a cry of pain as the foreigner's kneecaps dug into his back.

"Thank you for saving this particular piece from the injustice about to occur," Serge told her.

"I'll just put this back while you, uh, hold him there," Bianca replied nervously.

When she came back outside, she noticed Serge not only had Urpos still pinned down, but he was staring at her machine with wonder and confusion. "I see you look at this piece," she giggled. "It's a very important piece. It's how I get around. See you later, Serge! Bye, Urpos!"

* * *

Larry was just about to pick up the phone and dial the front desk for the number to the art gallery when he felt something at his feet. Looking down, he saw it was Meego, or the alien formerly known as Cupydon. "What do you want, Meego? Can't you see I'm trying to see if Bianca's alright?"

Within seconds, Meego morphed back into his human form and grabbed the phone from Larry. "She has only been gone for five minutes, Larry!"

Larry ran his hands through his hair and paced madly. "You don't understand, Meego! We don't have time to _waste_! Balki has been Max's prisoner far too long and I just can't sit on my hands anymore. Bianca needs to come back _now_ so we can rescue Balki! I can't lose him, Meego! If anything happens to him–"

"Nothing is going to happen to him, because the machine works and now we can go rescue Balki," Bianca's voice confirmed from behind, causing Larry to jump.

"Bianca!" Larry ran, hugging her tightly. "Thank God you're alright!"

"Thanks to Serge. Urpos found me at the art gallery, but I managed to get away and Serge took care of the rest. I may not be able to understand him well, but he's smart enough to know how to handle himself. Now, what are we waiting for? Let's go pay Max a visit and rescue our friend and _cousin_!"

"But how will we know where Balki _is_? Surely he's not still in our apartment!" Larry cried, the realization making his eyes bulge.

"I've got a confession to make," Bianca answered guiltily. "Remember when we were at the roach motel? The one Meego blasted us to? Well, while you guys weren't looking, I sort of placed tracking devices in your shoes. You both were wearing loafers, so I just slipped the tracking chip where you usually place pennies for luck. If Balki still has his, it will give us his exact location on the computer!"

Instinctively, Larry lifted his foot and peeled back the saddle far enough to see a small silver and black square chip. "Under any other circumstances, I'd say this was beyond intrusive of our privacy, but right now, it's pure unadulterated _genius_!"

"Well, then you're in luck because I even have a plan," she grinned, turning to Meego. "Meego, would you mind being Cupydon _one_ more time?"

"Well, okay; just know that later, I'm gonna be coughing up one serious hairball!"

Bianca giggled. "You won't if you're in danger of being hairless."

Meego laughed but then turned serious. "Wait; _what_?"

Larry laughed as well, just excited to finally reunite with his cousin and best friend. Things were looking up!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Hey, Balki! How many minutes left?"

"Mmph memmut," he mumbled, unable to speak with the gag that had been placed in his mouth.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he tensed up as he looked at the clock once more. " _Mmph memmut_!"

Max walked into the room smugly. "One minute, huh? Well, well, well," he sneered, looking at the clock. "Looks like Cousin Larry and Bianca are too preoccupied to come back for you. They probably don't even remember that you're still here."

Balki shook his head fervently but beads of sweat were forming on his brow. Where were Bianca and Cousin Larry? Did Urpos get to them and hurt them–or _worse_? Maybe they were at the police station and had a team searching for his whereabouts or putting up missing posters on every corner. Not that it would matter much, seeing as the clock read forty-five seconds and counting. "Mm _murph_ mey mm; moam mee memimumus!"

Max reached over and yanked the rag out of Balki's mouth. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said of _course_ they do; don't be ridiculous. Perhaps they are just in a different time zone. We should set the clock back a couple hours, just to be sure."

"Not a chance, Bartokomous. Your family has been a thorn in our family's side for _years_. Time to do away with the biggest one of all," Max cackled, pulling a small gun from his jacket pocket. "Lylo, come watch the fun, why don't you?"

Lylo walked into the living room, another candy bar in his hand. "Sure. I like being entertained."

Balki stared at the gun, unable to move as the clock flashed ten seconds. _I love you, Cousin. Take care of Bianca, Jennifer, Mary Anne and Dimitri,_ he thought, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"This won't hurt _too_ bad," Max grunted as he clicked the revolver, standing only inches away from Balki.

"Five, four, three," Lylo counted down as Balki closed his eyes, preparing for the inevitable.

"Back away from the Mypiot if you know what's good for you," a voice demanded from what sounded like far away.

Suddenly, Balki heard the clock beep as the countdown ended, but heard or felt nothing. Maybe he was already _dead_ …maybe if he opened his eyes, he'd see–

"Cousin! Bianca!" he cried out, happier than he'd ever felt in his life.

"Drop the gun and kick it over here, Max," Bianca told him, her voice cold.

Max turned around, ready to call on Lylo to attack, but froze when he saw what Larry had in his arms. "Cupydon!"

"Let Balki go or the cat gets a new haircut," Larry said, clearing his throat.

Max looked over at Bianca, who held an electric grooming razor in her hands. "You wouldn't _dare_."

Balki watched attentively as Bianca turned the razor on and moved the blade extremely close to Cupydon's fur.

"I think she means it, Max," Lylo observed before shoving the last of the chocolate in his mouth.

"Now, will you let Balki go and surrender, or does Cupydon get a Mohawk?" Bianca asked.

"Lylo, untie Bartokomous!" Max barked. "You give me my baby!" he cried to Larry, talking a step towards him.

Larry stepped back nervously. "Not until Balki's here with us."

As soon as Balki was free, he ran behind Larry, both excited and terrified.

"Okay, you have your Mypiot; now give me Cupydon!"

Larry looked at the cat inquisitively. "What do you think, Cupydon? Do you _want_ to go back to Max?"

Suddenly, Cupydon jumped out of Larry's arms and began to change into a human! "Not a chance in _Mercury_!" the human retorted, brushing himself off.

Max clutched his heart and stumbled back at the strange man dressed in blue while Lylo dropped the candy wrapper on the floor. "What on Earth?" Max gasped.

"Actually, that's Marmazon four-point-oh."

Balki couldn't believe his eyes. "Meego!" he shouted.

"What have you done with Cupydon?" Max choked.

"I have no idea, but apparently, he couldn't get away from _you_ fast enough," Meego replied.

"Get them, Lylo!" Max growled.

"Aah, aah, _aah_ ," Meego sang out, wagging his finger at the charging Lylo, expertly freezing him in his place. "Not a good idea."

Max's eyes grew wide with terror as he stared at his now frozen cousin. "Where–where's Urpos?" he stammered.

"Where did we last see Urpos? Oh, that's _right_ ; Beverly Hills in the year two-thousand-thirteen," Larry recalled.

"Yeah. He was–detained–while trying to steal an art gallery's very important piece," Bianca finished, imitating Serge's wild accent.

"Well, you just think you've won, but _I'll_ have the last laugh!" Max screamed, jumping into the time machine and frantically pushing buttons on the keyboard.

Bianca walked toward the time machine. Balki watched as Larry grabbed her arm, but she turned and smiled knowingly. Larry reluctantly released her before placing his arm around Balki proudly.

"Max, the time machine only works for me. I'm afraid you're stuck here until the police arrive," she told him.

Max snorted. "What can they arrest me for, huh?"

"Well, there's about _kidnapping_ , for starters," Larry said pointedly.

"Not to mention breaking and entering into my home and stealing my iPad!" Bianca added.

"And complimented murder," Balki finished.

"Balki, that's _attempted_ murder," Larry corrected.

"You can't prove any of it!" Max scoffed.

"You forget, Max; I'm not just your average victim! I'm highly advanced in technology and far beyond your intelligence! The police already have proof. I e-mailed them video of you kidnapping Balki, as well as breaking into my home and holding a gun to Balki! It's amazing what you can do with computers nowadays, isn't it?"

"You got _that_ right!" Balki chimed in. "You and Lylo are in deep babasticki!"

Meego smiled. "I should go, but I had a purrr-fect time with all of you."

Balki ran over and hugged Meego. "Thank you!"

"And to think we never did figure out who you look like," Bianca said.

"Would you believe some people think I look like some actor named Bronson _Pinchot_?"

"Oh, po-po; you don't look like him at all!" Balki replied.

" _Really_? I didn't know you knew Bronson Pinchot, Balki," Bianca said.

"I have no idea _who_ he is," Balki responded, causing Larry, Bianca and Meego to laugh.

"Oh, I guess I should un-freeze Lylo now," Meego sighed, instantly wagging his fingers. Lylo stumbled and fell to the floor like a rag doll and the four of them laughed.

"You people are _not_ normal!" Max screeched.

Larry grinned and placed an arm around Balki and Bianca. "Normal's under-rated these days, don't you think?"

Max fell to his knees and let out a cry, but his sound was drowned out by the noise of approaching police sirens.

"Let's get out of here," Bianca said, grabbing Balki's hand.

Balki smiled and squeezed her hand before looking back at Larry. "Cousin, are you coming?"

Larry looked at them, but said nothing.

"Cousin?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Cousin? Cousin, are you okay?"

Larry jumped as if he'd been shot and clutched his chest. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was being inside the cottage and waiting for the police to arrive.

"Cousin, I heard you moaning in your sleep. Did you have a nightmare?"

Larry looked up at Balki before he placed a hand next to him and felt the warmth of the blankets on his bed. He had been dreaming? "I–I was here the whole _time_?"

"Well of _course_ you were; don't be ridiculous!" Balki told him, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Where did you think you were; the Halls of Monty Python? I was in my room, writing Mama and I heard you say something in your sleep. When I come in, you are moaning and saying something about being normal."

"I guess I was having a dream. It seemed like it went on forever and it didn't make very much sense."

"Well, Cousin, most dreams don't make sense. They are just our minds turning tricks on us. What did you dream of?"

Larry ran a hand through his soaking wet ringlets of hair. "I–I don't really remember too much."

"Was it about flying? Did you dream you were a superhero and able to stop Loco's motives?"

Larry looked at Balki, dumbfounded. "No, I can honestly say it wasn't either one of those. Look, maybe if I get up and move around, I can remember my dream and I'll tell you then, okay?"

"Okay, Cousin. It's time to get ready for work, anyway. Mr. Gorpley wants me to make a copy of the dictionary for him so he can look up really big words in his office instead of going upstairs to look. He says he wants to expand his mind. That don't sound too good to _me_ , but it's his mind."

Larry watched his cousin leave before he stood up and looked at himself in the mirror above the bureau. So everything that happened with Max and Bianca was nothing but his subconscious working overtime! While he was glad they had never been kidnapped or in danger, he remembered parts of the dream so vividly that it felt as if it had actually taken place. He could still feel the rain on his face and taste Bianca's sweet lips as they kissed–

"What am I saying? It was a dream and I'm in love with _Jennifer_!" he told his reflection. "It was only a dream. Bianca's not here and everything is back to normal."

Suddenly, the realization that Bianca had been in danger from Max hit him and he literally gasped for air. What if his subconscious was trying to _warn_ him that Bianca was in some sort of trouble? He had to find out, but _how_?

Quickly but quietly, he exited his bedroom and saw that Balki was tucked away in his room, getting dressed.

Grabbing the phone from the bar, he dialed the operator and jotted down a phone number. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to know for sure. It was the only thing he knew to do. As he dialed the phone number, he held his breath until he heard the person on the receiving end pick up.

"Hello?" the male voice asked.

"Hi. I'm sorry to bother you, but my name is Larry Appleton from Chicago and I need to speak to you. It's very important."

"What is this call pertaining to, Mr. Appleton?" the man queried.

"I'm calling about Bianca Pierson; your granddaughter."


End file.
